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Fifth Gladden Riddle Race -- December 14th noon US EST

Dear gentlehobbits, gentle-elves, gentledwarves, gentlemen and gentlewomen, you are cordially invited to the fifth Gladden Riddle Race on Saturday the 14th of December, noon U.S. EST, to be held in the Misty Mountains, in celebration of the Winter Holidays season! (For those of you who originally expected this to be December 21st, yes, that was the original plan, but several people including some organizers requested the date be pushed forward so as not to conflict with real life matters.)

The prizes

100 gold apiece to each first place winner, 50 gold apiece to each second place winner, 25 gold apiece to each third place winner, and 10 gold apiece for each member of the best dressed team. There might also be gold prizes to musicians/other people who are entertaining at the after-party. (Thanks Rinil for helping to front this since due to the hasty preparation of this race, Vervain won't be able to earn enough gold in time.)

One Flawed Symbol of Celebrimbor (level 95 second age symbol) apiece for each member of the first place team. (Thanks to Misadventure for two of them and Rinil for the third.)

We also have the following prizes available, although we are still discussing how to distribute them. One Tarnished Symbol of Celebrimbor (thanks Misadventure), 50 high-grade Eorlingas ingots (thanks Misadventure), 50 reinforced walnut boards (thanks Misadventure), and several relics -- Sealed Eastemnet Bridle Insignia of Melodic Strike -- Sealed Eastemnet Bridle Insignia of the Steeled Mind -- Sealed Westemnet Device of Agility (thanks Rayla)

The race will start at Gloin's Camp in the Misty Mountains. We hope that organizers will arrive by 11 AM US EST. People who need assistance getting there should also arrive early. If you do not have a team before coming, you are encouraged to arrive by 11:30 AM US EST in order to have time to meet other teamless people. We should get started explaining everything by noon US EST and be able to start the race by 12:15 US EST. The race will then run for an hour until 1:15 PM US EST, and be followed by the awards ceremony and afterparty.

Rules and regulations

You may form in teams of up to three people, as it will be easier to solve riddles with more heads. Please name your team and let both Vervainbrandybuck of Drunken Hobbits and Rinil of the Eglantine Order know your team name and members. It is preferred if you form your team by 11:45 AM, but you may finalize your team any time before the start of the race. Again, if you come without teammates, or without a full team of 3, you are encouraged to arrive half an hour early so as to have time to meet other people who may be in need of a team.

Riding horses or ponies, fast transportation methods, run-speed buffs, giving false hints to other teams, and other cheating is *allowed*. However, please do not share riddle answers with other teams or in public channels: doing so is grounds for disqualification. Additionally, all racers are asked to be respectful to each other and to the race officials.

The first six race checkpoints, as indicated by the first six riddles, may be visited in any order, and your team does not need to stay together, so feel free to spread out. At each checkpoint, you should trade with a race official wearing a silly hat who will hand you a crafted item as proof that you successfully solved the riddle and made it to the checkpoint (or found it by luck, at least). After that, you should solve the final riddle, if you haven't already, and proceed to the finish line. Your entire team should be at the finish line together when you hand Vervain the proof of having reached the first six checkpoints. (In the event Vervain is unavoidably unable to be there, please hand the items to Rinil instead.)

About 10 minutes before the end of the race, the solution to the final riddle will be announced -- your team should head to the finish line before the end of the race for the awards and after-party, even if you haven't completed the first six riddles. In the event some teams do not complete all riddles, failure to arrive at the finish line before the end of the race and judging may result in loss of your position relative to other teams, even those who completed fewer riddles than yours.

Fashion contest, Awards Ceremony, and Afterparty

We ask that your team stand together, to make it easier for race officials to judge how well coordinated your team's outfits are for the fashion portion of the competition. Coordination with your team is a significant portion of the fashion contest, so we suggest people concerned about winning this part of the contest take the time to coordinate a set of outfits with their teammates. Once the fashion contest has been judged, please feel free to mix and mingle, but when your team is called to accept their prizes, please step forward. Additional prizes may be handed out to people who are exceptionally entertaining at the after-party, such as musicians.

Congratulations Team RavenSong -- Coldfell, Rayla, Ardook -- on winning first place (100 gold and a Flawed Symbol of Celebrimbor apiece) and being the only team to complete the whole race.
Team Dude -- Cheirn, Thedudeofdudeland, and Lsuman -- and Team FND Adventurers -- Lathran, Neyen, and Violett -- tied for second place, each having solved 2/4 of the non-cancelled riddles. (Two riddles were cancelled due to lack of race officials.) Unfortunately, since there Vervain did not have enough gold on hand to cover 6 second place winners, and there was also the question of some non-gold prizes, we had to have a tie-breaker. Team FND Adventurers won the tie-breaker, and thus 50 gold apiece, one Tarnished Symbol of Celebrimbor, 50 high-grade Eorlingas ingots, and 50 reinforced walnut boards. Team Dude received 25 gold and one relic apiece up front, and we'll send them another 25 gold apiece later after there is time to raise it (for a total of 50 gold apiece).

Team RavenSong -- Coldfell, Rayla, and Thedudeofdudeland (Ardook left Team RavenSong and Thedudeofdudeland joined for the fashion contest) won Best Dressed, and 10 gold apiece.